BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Vancouver X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Vancouver BEGIN:VEVENT UID:27@bcblackhistory.ca DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260207T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260207T160000 DTSTAMP:20260113T200643Z URL:https://bcblackhistory.ca/events/black-history-and-heritage-day/ SUMMARY:Black History and Heritage Day DESCRIPTION:Saturday\, Feb 7th\n1:00 pm– 4:00 pm\nRoyal BC Museum Confere nce Hall\n675 Belleville St.\, Victoria\, BC V8W 9W2\nFree!\nTake this opp ortunity to meet and talk with direct descendants about their stories and family history and meet with local organizations that are dedicated to the preservation of historical records related to Black history in BC\; AND c onnect with Black-led organizations that celebrate and promote arts and cu lture through events\, educational programs\, and community activities.\nT his is a drop-in event. Short presentations by each exhibitor will take pl ace throughout the event\,.\nThis year we have 9 exhibits!\nThe Alexander Family.  Karen Hoshal\, Terri Haas are direct descendants of Charles and Nancy Alexander who were part of the 1858 migration of the Black Pioneers to B.C. from San Francisco. The Alexander’s settled in Saanich and were instrumental in building and establishing the Black Community\, the Shady Creek Church and schools. The display includes photographs\, archival mate rials\, and the reproduction of the dress made for Nancy in 1909 for their 60th wedding anniversary.\n\nBC Black History – “The Pioneers”\, wi th Ron Nicholson. This exhibit gives a brief insight into the intrepid pio neers who arrived in 1858. They were free men and women seeking a place wh ere they could raise their families\, educate their children\, practise th eir professions\, vote\, and\, could live with equality under the law. Mif flin Gibbs\, their defacto leader and 1st Black person to be elected and s erve as a Victoria City councillor is featured in this exhibit.\n\nDoug Hu dlin Legacy Exhibit  James Douglas “Doug” Hudlin\, is a direct descen dant of Charles and Nancy Alexander. One of the many passions for the Hudl in family is baseball\; Doug played\, coached\, and umpired baseball in th is community for decades. "The Gentleman Umpire" has been honored locally and nationally\; and is the namesake for a local charity to help local you ng umpires\, and children and youth play baseball and softball. His nieces - sisters Barb Hudlin and Mirene Hudlin will be here today to share Doug ’s story.\n\nThe No. 2 Construction Battalion CEF  The No.2 Constructio n Battalion was the first and only Black battalion in Canadian military hi story\, authorized to fight in World War I on July 5\, 1916\, with headqua rters at Pictou\, Nova Scotia. Twelve men from BC enlisted in the Battalio n.\nOn July 9\, 2022\, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a National Apology to the Descendants and Families of the No. 2 Construction Battalio n. Ron was a member of the National Apology Advisory Committee (NAAC) and he attended the event on July 9\, 2022 in Truro Nova Scotia.\n\nIn 2025 we completed the project “No. 2 Construction Battalion Legacy in BC and Be yond” which included a website\; and on July 26\, 2025 was the unveiling ceremony of a commemorative plaque to honour these men at the LGen. E.C. Ashton Armoury Museum\, 724 Vanalman Ave.\, Victoria. The plaque was prese nted by the project lead\, Door Gibson\, Captain (Ret’d) D.L. Gibson\, M MM\, CD\; one of our members and a member of the Last Post Fund.\n\nUnderg round Railroad with Ron Nicholson\, a twenty-year member of the BC Black H istory Awareness Society and a fourth generation Canadian\, whose great-gr andfather was an actual traveler of the Underground Railroad. This display is a visual presentation featuring Harriet Tubman\, a famous conductor of the UGRR\, and other members of the Vigilance Committee who helped the fu gitive slaves\, along the many escape routes to freedom in the northern st ates and eventually into Upper Canada.\n\nOld Cemeteries Society of Victor ia with Linda Richards\, Yvonne Van Ruskenveld. The OCS is dedicated to re searching\, preserving and encouraging the appreciation of Victoria’s he ritage cemeteries. OCS members are involved in many volunteer activities\, which include cataloging\, cleaning and restoring monuments\; computerizi ng burial records\; combating vandalism\; conducting historical research\; and giving historical walking tours. For over 25 years\, OCS has conducte d a walking tour of Black pioneer grave sites at Ross Bay Cemetery. The OC S display at this Heritage Day event will highlight information about some of these pioneers. The annual Black History Tour in Ross Bay Cemetery wil l take place on Sunday\, February 22\, at 2 pm.\n\nSaanich Pioneers Societ y\, with Susan Myerscroft. The Society operates the “Log Cabin Museum an d Archives” in Saanichton\, Vancouver Island’ “dedicated to the pres ervation of the historical records of the Saanich Peninsula” Several of the first Black settlers made their homes in this area. Their archives and museum house collections from the pioneer families\, both textual and in artifact form.\n\nAfrican Heritage Association of Vancouver Island (AHAVI) with Kade Hardy. AHAVI builds a united and strong community by co-operati vely organizing and supporting events and activities to meet the needs of Africans\, people of African descent\, and friends of Africa on Vancouver Island. The objectives of AHAVI are to: foster a sense of community among Africans\, people of African descent\, and friends of Africa on Vancouver Island\; promote the provision of the best possible services for all\; pro mote the cultural development of its members\; and to facilitate communica tion among its members and with members of other organizations and communi ties on Vancouver Island.\n\nVancouver Island Caribbean Hub\, with Kara Ra ndall.  The Vancouver Island Caribbean Hub is a nonprofit organization de dicated to celebrating\, preserving\, and sharing Caribbean culture\, hist ory\, and arts on Vancouver Island. Through festivals\, cultural programmi ng\, community events\, and educational initiatives\, the Hub highlights t he contributions of Caribbean and Black communities while fostering connec tion\, cultural pride\, and cross-cultural understanding. Our exhibit will share information about Caribbean heritage\, community programs\, and sig nature events such as i-Land Fest\, offering visitors an opportunity to le arn about the richness and diversity of Caribbean culture and its place wi thin the broader Black Canadian experience.\n\n[caption id="attachment_753 1" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Underground Railroad Exhibit\, ©BC Bla ck History Awareness Society[/caption]\n\n \; ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://bcblackhistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/202 6/01/BHM2026-07-HHDay.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Vancouver BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR